NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Monday 12/5
Another week of hockey is in the books, which means that it’s time for our next round of power rankings for the 2022-2023 NHL season.
This list is a combination of my rankings and rankings done by Jim Lynch, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Eastern Conference still owns the top spot. There were a few big movers this week at both ends of the list, but overall, teams are beginning to settle into their positions.
Where do teams stand nearly two months into the NHL season?
It’s been a crazy NHL season to this point, so without further ado, let’s dive in with the bottom four.
32. Anaheim Ducks (Previous Rank: 31)
There’s not much to say about the Anaheim Ducks. They’ve been bad, and they’ve not yet gotten any better. Until they can string a few wins together, don’t expect them to stray too far from this spot.
31. Chicago Blackhawks (32)
The only real excitement around the Blackhawks is the Patrick Kane trade rumors. While that may not be something Chicago fans want to talk about, it’s about the only thing keeping this team relevant this season.
30. Arizona Coyotes (29)
Like the other teams on this page, the Arizona Coyotes simply have done nothing to move themselves up our list. We thought they would be bad, they have been bad, and they will probably continue to be bad.
29. Philadelphia Flyers (25)
From good to bad to worse, the Philadelphia Flyers have slowly worked their way down the standings and down our power rankings. At 8-12-5 on the season, John Tortorella’s team looks like the team we expected coming into the year.
28. San Jose Sharks (28)
The Sharks began last week by picking up points in their first two games, but three goals in their last two games of the week handed them a pair of empty losses. If it wasn’t for the majority of the NHL’s basement being comprised of Western Conference teams, San Jose might rank even lower.
27. Buffalo Sabres (27)
Buffalo won a wild game against the Detroit Red Wings last week and took the Tampa Bay Lightning to overtime. The week wasn’t a complete loss by any means, but this squad is nowhere near returning to its October form.
26. Ottawa Senators (26)
The Senators picked up a few wins last week, but they didn’t beat anyone that was overly impressive. Still, if the Sens can manage to win some more games in the next week or two, there’s no reason that they can’t move up as soon as next week.
25. Columbus Blue Jackets (30)
Columbus is our first big mover of the week after beating a solid Winnipeg Jets team and taking the Vegas Golden Knights to overtime. Don’t get us wrong though, the Jackets are still quite a ways away from moving into a higher, more respectable position.
24. Vancouver Canucks (22)
Vancouver went 2-2 last week, but their wins came against the Sharks and Coyotes. A pair of 5-1 losses, including one against the Washington Capitals, move them down a couple of spots on this week’s list.
23. Washington Capitals (23)
Washington posted a 1-1-1 record, which doesn’t give us much of a reason to move this team up or down. Alex Ovechkin and company are now 10-12-4 on the season, so there is still a lot of work to do in the U.S. capital.
22. St. Louis Blues (17)
Oh, the Blues. This team can’t seem to figure out whether it wants to be a contender or a pretender. While St. Louis struggles through its latest slump, one thing is for sure: Jordan Binnington needs to get his act together, or his club will be in the 20s most weeks this season.
21. Montreal Canadiens (20)
The Canadiens are sort of hanging out in no man’s land. At 12-11-1, they’re certainly still exceeding expectations, but at the same time, they’re several spots out of a playoff position. For now, they stay in a spot that reflects the “eh” sort of feeling that we have about them.
20. New York Rangers (14)
The Rangers played four games last week but won only one of them. A loss to the Devils confirms that New York has work to do within the Metropolitan Division, while a loss to one of the NHL’s worst teams in the Blackhawks speaks to how tough this season has been for the Blueshirts.
19. Nashville Predators (24)
The Predators enjoyed a strong week last week, going 3-0 with a win over the red-hot New Jersey Devils to highlight the win streak. In three games, the Preds surrendered only five goals, looking more like the defense we expected to see and giving us a reason to move them up several spots.
18. Calgary Flames (21)
Outside of a home loss to the Canadiens, the Flames had a successful week. Calgary beat Washington and the Florida Panthers by a combined score of 11-4. The key for the Flames is getting their new players, like Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, to produce consistently.
17. Detroit Red Wings (9)
The Red Wings had one of their worst weeks of the season last week. The team’s worst loss came against the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 4-1.
All teams are going to have bad weeks, so there’s no need to totally panic, but several teams that are now just ahead of the Wings had strong weeks, so Detroit slides a bit.
16. Florida Panthers (18)
Florida started slow last week but ended with 5-1 victories over the Canucks and Seattle Kraken. The Kraken win is especially exciting for this Panthers team, which still finds itself outside of the playoff picture.
15. Minnesota Wild (19)
Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Wild have won six out of their last seven games and are in the top-three in the Central Division standings. I think most fans realize the potential of this team, and over the last week, it’s been playing up to that potential.
14. Los Angeles Kings (13)
Los Angeles went 1-1-2 last week, and its only win came against the Coyotes. It was far from an inspiring week for the Kings, but LA’s position in the standings can’t be ignored, as the team sits in third place in the Pacific Division.
13. Edmonton Oilers (16)
Sitting right behind the Kings in the standings, but right in front of them in our rankings, are the Edmonton Oilers. Last week, Edmonton posted a 3-1 record, scoring 17 goals in its four games.
Last week’s performance came on the heels of several non-winning weeks for the Oilers, so they’ll hope for the beginning of December to be a preview of what’s to come this holiday season.
12. New York Islanders (10)
An 0-2 record last week drops the Islanders a couple of spots. With a 16-10 record on the season, this team is still in a favorable position when it comes to the Eastern Conference playoff picture. With that, I’m not sure that we know yet exactly what this group is all about.
11. Pittsburgh Penguins (15)
The Penguins keep winning games, so they keep moving up on our list. The Pens picked up at least one point in each of their three games last week. With wins over the NHL’s road warriors, the Golden Knights, as well as the Blues, Pittsburgh has been streaking in the last three weeks.
10. Winnipeg Jets (12)
The Jets slipped up once last week, but they’re still playing very well overall. A 5-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche drove home an overall strong week for Winnipeg, and this team is still a top-ten group in the NHL with a record of 15-7-1.
9. Colorado Avalanche (3)
Last season’s champions are still working out the kinks this season. I don’t think anyone is truly worried about the Avs, but blowout losses against the Jets and Boston Bruins take Colorado well out of a top-three spot in our power rankings.
8. Dallas Stars (11)
The Dallas Stars keep climbing the standings, as they are now 14-6-5 on the year, which is good for sixth in the NHL and third in the Western Conference.
Contributions from captain Jamie Been have given Dallas scoring support behind the electrifying Jason Robertson and the rest of the Stars’ young core.
7. Tampa Bay Lightning (10)
Tampa Bay won three games last week and went 1-1 against playoff-caliber teams. It was a good week overall, and it keeps the Bolts within striking distance of second place in the Atlantic Division. The Lightning just keep going about their business at a high level.
6. Vegas Golden Knights (4)
The Golden Knights are still the top team in the Western Conference standings, but they’re not as hot as they once were. Yes, they went 2-1 last week and have an overall record of 18-7-1, but the teams that have surpassed Vegas are some of the hottest teams in the NHL.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs (6)
Toronto is one of those teams that is playing some inspired hockey right now. The Maple Leafs went 2-0-1 last week to extend their point streak to 11 consecutive games (8-0-3). They have played only one game since the start of November in which they didn’t pick up a point.
Speaking of point streaks, forward Mitch Marner is up to 19 straight games with a point, which is the longest streak in Maple Leafs history.
4. Carolina Hurricanes (7)
The Carolina Hurricanes posted a perfect 3-0 record to give them four wins in a row overall. There hasn’t been anything flashy about the Canes, but like the Lightning, this is a team that will go about its business now with the hopes of making noise in the playoffs later.
3. Seattle Kraken (5)
No matter how long you wait for the Kraken to fade away, it’s just not going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting the Kraken to be a top-five team all season, but this group has firmly established itself as a playoff contender.
If Seattle could just get some better goaltending somewhere along the line, it would really become a force to be reconned with.
2. Boston Bruins (2)
Boston was dethroned last week by the league-leading New Jersey Devils, but that shouldn’t take away from anything that the Bruins have accomplished. Patrice Bergeron’s team is an astounding 20-3 so far, and its +44 goal differential is the best mark in the NHL.
There is nothing not to like about the B’s, but there happens to be one team that has completely taken the league by storm in the first couple of months of the season.
1. New Jersey Devils (1)
The winning streak may be over for the Devils, but they retain the top spot in our rankings as they continue to pace the NHL. With an overall record of 20-4-1 (41 points) and a +36 goal differential, it’s nearly impossible to argue with what this team has accomplished thus far.
light. More. Steven Stamkos solidifies Hall of Fame case with this milestone
The biggest question about this Devils team is regarding its ability to sustain its success and succeed in the postseason. With that said, there’s plenty of time to figure that out. For now, no team has been better than the New Jersey Devils.